The loss also marked the third straight at Giant Center, leaving Hershey's recent run of 12 consecutive home wins a distant memory. Hershey has been outscored 28-12 during its six-game slide (0-5-0-1).

"You'll get your chances if you stay with the system and stay with the structure," head coach Mike Haviland said. "We're veering off that right now, and it's my job to bring them back on track. We're just going to have to go back to Hockey 101 here for the next couple of days."

Haviland, frustrated by a non-icing call in the second period Sunday, received a game misconduct. Hershey's first-year coach disputed Ryan Murphy's goal at 10:15, which made it a 3-0 deficit.

"I got up on the bench and yelled, 'Icing, where's the icing?' explained Haviland. "(Referee David Banfield) told me to get down. I got down and said, 'I still want an explanation'. He gave me two minutes for that. It's the quickest ejection I've ever seen on any coach."

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Jeff Taffe put the hosts on the board with 3:37 left in the second, literally sticking the puck in the net on a hard shot from the left faceoff circle. Patrick Wey and Julien Brouillette picked up assists on Taffe's 17th of the season.

"It is the American Hockey League. Refs are here for a reason, we're here for a reason. Not everyone is perfect," Taffe said. "It's frustrating, but on the whole we need to play better. You can't look at that as an excuse."

The Bears closed the gap again in third when Tyson Strachan scored on his own howitzer from the point at 12:52 to make it 3-2. Peters gloved the shot, but the puck popped out of his mitt, landing behind him. Captain Dane Byers and veteran NHL defenseman Jack Hillen, on a conditioning loan from Washington, earned helpers.

"This team plays really well; they play hard," said Hillen. "I know they're struggling right now — that happens — it's a long season. They got a great group of guys, good leaders and good young players. (But) every mistake seems to end up in the back of the net."

The one-goal difference stood for just 39 seconds. Boychuck netted his first of the game on a cross-ice pass from Sean Dolan for a 4-2 edge.

"It's everybody. I certainly didn't want to watch the game from where I was, but I got to watch a little bit," Haviland said. "We scored a goal to make it 3-2; we give up a goal on the next shift. That's kind of what's going on now right now. Everybody has got to take a hard look in the mirror at themselves. This is not the time to point fingers and start bailing out on each other."

Boychuk chalked up his second at 15:13 on a power-play to make it 5-2. Hershey's Ryan Stoa fired the Bears' last salvo, scoring on a backhand from the slot at 16:45. Boychuck then tacked on an empty-netter with 1.9 seconds left for the final.

"Our decision making without the puck needs to be way better," Haviland added. "We're giving up way too many odd-man rushes. That was evident the last two nights here. We have to make better decision and better reads. We have to live for another day. We're thinking offense too much offense instead of thinking a 2-1 hockey game."

David Leggio took the loss in goal, stopping 20 of 25 shots. Hershey finished the weekend 0-for-10 against Charlotte on the power play. Attendance was announced at 9,942.

The Bears hit the road for three straight, starting with a pair against the Norfolk Admirals on Friday and Saturday. Both games will be broadcast by ABC-27 WHTM. Hershey returns home Saturday, March 15 against Adirondack at 7 p.m. at Giant Center.

Hershey's Brandon Segal (26) and Charlotte's Chris Terry (25) get tangled up during the Checkers' 6-3 win over the Bears on Sunday night at Giant Center. The loss was the sixth straight for Hershey. (Glen Gray — Lebanon Daily News)

"You got to go back to your foundations and to your structure," said Haviland. "That's what we'll do on Tuesday."

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